The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Philly Zine Fest-ing It Up On November 9th, I went to the Philly Zine Fest. It was held in not just any Rotunda, but the Rotunda. It was just as rotund as I thought it would be. In that space, dozens of people clustered into one room to sample and purchase zines while getting to know the people behind the scenes. One thing that I love about zine fests is how they mend the gap between the reader and the author. Zine fests allow readers to interact with publishers on a much more intimate level. You can ask them questions about the cool stuff that they're selling and ask them questions about their work. It's always nice to see the other colors of the rainbow in other people's hair. It's also nice to not be the only person wearing a Misfits shirt. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself. When I first entered, I got an eyeload of this: It was totally sweet. I mean that in the most literal way; Sugar Coated Magic is an online vender that sells not only zines, but a bunch of other awesome stuff. I slipped into a sugar coma as I adored the oodles of treasures that she so generously makes available for us to purchase. Check out her stuff; I've been gaga over the stuff she's been displaying on her Facebook page since I returned to my relatives' house in Lancaster. She sells not only zines, but fashion accessories and...Well, just look at everything that's going on in the picture. That's not even the bulk of it. Thanks for feeding my head with all that goodness! And then there was Joseph Carlough. Oh man was there Joseph Carlough. But mostly Displaced Snail Publications, one of my personal favorites. I met him at Pete's Zine Fest in Brooklyn last summer and had an awesome time talking to him, admiring his awesome work, and gushing over the refurbished Nintendos and assorted, antique Nintendo paraphernalia that he sells. Considering the atmosphere of The Philly Zine Fest, the setup seemed far from displaced, but continuous displacement is part of the charm. I am currently enjoying Found Poetry on Education, an avant-garde poetry book in which he turns the pages of a book on English into poems. Basically, he takes words from pages of an old book on English education and "displaces" them into fully-formed poems to capture that page's essence. How surrealistic of him. So far, he's transformed one chapter, but there's more to come. I'm not finished yet, but so far, what I've read is hilarious and insightful because you can tell that they reflect times long passed, a time when libraries were valued. I've also been enjoying his book of poetry about all 50 states in the United States with pages that are bound together with actual bolts. Like myself, Carlough also loves to write about ghosts and feminism. Oh snap. It's great stuff. Thanks a lot, Mr. Carlough! The Philly Zine Fest was a lot of fun. I highly recommend it. Although I would've loved for Quail Bell to have had a table this year, at least I was able to bring some of Quail Bell's spirit to The Rotunda that day. I can't wait to go again! #Real #PhillyZineFest #Zines #Poetry #SugarCoatedMagic #DisplacedSnailsPublications #Philadelphia #AlternativeLiterature Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
0 Comments
CommentsLeave a Reply. |
|